Forget Me Not Blue
by itsjulianne
Summary: Ron wakes up from an amazing night to find himself with a girl who doesn't even remember why he is there. During Hogwarts.
1. Part One: Morning After Surprises

**Part One|Morning After Surprises**

The pale sunlight that shone through the small window at the top of the wall began to spill into the room. It was daybreak. All was still, which was expected; hardly anyone was awake this early at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on a Saturday, save for a few Quidditch players. A pale skinned, red headed figure lay in a bed, his chest rising and falling with his breaths. The sun lit up his hair and made it gleam even brighter than it already was.

As the minutes passed, the sun's light spread from not only the ginger's hair, but down to his forehead, and then gradually into his eyes. Squinting, he shifted in his sleep uncomfortably, attempting to find a spot where the light was reduced. Failing, he lazily brought his arm up to block the sun, and he opened his eyes a small crack. Using his toes, he grabbed onto the curtain of the four-poster he was in and jerkily moved it until it blocked out the sun.

He laid his head back onto the pillow and let his arm fall to dangle off the side of the bed. Ron knew that there wouldn't be any point in attempting to fall back asleep. Once he was up, he was up. On most days he would change into some day clothes and go down to the common room to do school work, which more often resulted in him playing chess or hangman with any other Gryffindor early risers than any actual school work getting done.

But today, today was a different scenario. He was perfectly content with lying here in the bed, the sheets half tangled around him and with only the blanket to completely cover his body. He looked down at the figure that was nestled in him. She was a blonde with a short cut and unnaturally straight hair. She had a small, pixie like face, pointed chin, but with soft features. The quality that stood out the most on this girl, though, were her deep, clear, crystal blue eyes.

Ron grinned in personal pleasure. He was still beside himself with shock. He wasn't even sure how exactly it happened. He had headed down into the basement of the school late into the night, his prefect status allowing him to be up at such times and not have to worry about being caught or punished. He had been arriving to the picture of the bowl of fruit which marked the entrance to the kitchens when a girl walked out of it. Ron had been stunned by her appearance. One, he was sure not many others knew about the way into the kitchens, and two, he'd never seen a girl so gorgeous in his life. How had he missed her in his six years of attending Hogwarts? She didn't appear to be that young.

She noticed him right away. Approaching him with confidence, and before he was able to utter a reprimand for being out so late, she attacked him. Next he knew, he had found himself in a bed with the girl, having experiences that he'd never had before. The only distinct thought that he'd remembered having during this was how he'd never done anything near this with Lavender. Nothing near this.

Ron smiled as the memories of the night before washed over him, dimples darkening the side of pale face. He took his glance from the girl resting in his left arm to his right arm which was still hanging off the side of his bed, for he had just become aware of the fact that he still had the Gryffindor tie clutched in his hands. He released his grip and watched as it fell limply to the ground, landing on scarlet and yellow robes. Not bad for a _Hufflepuff_, he thought. He then looked up to the bedside table. It was empty except for a fish tank. It was filled almost to the brim with crisp clean water. Fish food stood in a small canister next to it. The only thing that was missing from the whole thing was, well, a fish.

Ron hardly had time to really think that through because the girl began to stir in his arm. Smiling, he looked down and watched her as she slowly woke up. Gradually she opened her eyes, blinking in the sunlight that had managed to get around the curtain. She was about to stretch, but then stopped suddenly as her hand bushed against the side of Ron's face. She stared straight in front of her at Ron's chest, and her eyes slowly traveled up his body to look at his grinning face. Her blue eyes pierced his green ones. Smiling sheepishly, Ron said, "G'morning, beautif-"

Ron's greeting was cut short by the sharp stinging that suddenly slammed his face. It took him a second to realize that the girl had slapped him across his cheek. "What the bloody hell was that for?" he demanded of her. For an answer, she slapped him again across the other cheek. Scrambling wildly to get out of any more harm's way, he tried to jump off the bed, but due to the fact that his body was completely twisted in the sheets, he just managed to fall off the bed backwards, slamming his head against the bedside table in the process. The fish tank tipped to one precariously, and then crashed over the side onto Ron's head, leaving him soaked and surrounded by broken glass. The water was the least of his worries, though. The girl was boiling into a full blow rage.

"BEAUTIFUL?" she screeched as she jumped off of her bed. The fact that she was naked added to her anger. She ripped a bath robe off of the hook next to her bed and hastily put it on. "I'D PERFER TO KNOW YOU BEFORE YOU START THROWING OUT TERMS OF ENDEREMENT AND SLEEPING IN MY BED _NAKED_, PEDOPHILE!"

His face was flushing a deep crimson from embarrassment, but, beyond that, Ron was bewildered. Had last night been a dream? Had he sleep walked his way down into the Hufflepuff common room and up into this girl's bed? It could have been possible. _But I don't know their password_, he reasoned with himself. Not even his subconscious was creative enough to be able to guess their password correctly.

Pushing back the fiery mop of soaking wet hair out of his eyes, Ron gingerly stood up, taking care not to step on any of the broken glass. He noticed that he was shivering violently from the cold room and water. The blankets had been warmer than he'd thought, "HAVE SOME DECENCY TO PUT ON SOME CLOTHES, YOU DESPICABLE FREAK!" She was now standing in the middle of the room, screaming swears at the top of her lungs. Someone was bound to come and investigate soon. Ron picked up his school robes and, shaking off the glass, tied it quickly around his waist. Not a moment after he had tied it as securely as he could get it, the door to the dormitory opened.

To Ron's surprise, it was Hannah Abbot who entered. She didn't look surprised to see the other girl in this state. Raising her voice louder than the girl's, she said "Shut it, Dory." The other girl, Dory, listened automatically. She stared at Hannah with a look of mild confusion, and then walked to the mirror that was across the room and began to fix her hair. Ron's shock from the girl's reaction was hardly anything compared to Hannah's when she spotted Ron. She stood looking at the redheaded boy for a complete minute, her jaw hanging loosely open. She took in his lack of clothes, wetness, and the state of the bed. She slowly put it all together together. "You broke the tank," she muttered. "Reparo! Augamenti!" The pieces of the tank sealed itself together and clear water was replenished into it. Walking next to Ron, she picked it up and placed it back on the table.

"So I see you've met Dory." Hannah said, walking back to the middle of the room. Ron just stood in bewilderment. "It's odd; she usually goes for guys younger than you, though. She hasn't brought in a guy our age before." Noting Ron's expression she added, "This isn't the first time. It's happened three or four times a year since our fourth year. When she does, we usually camp out in the common room. That's why we never came up here last night."

Ron, taking this all in, managed to squeak out, "What the bloody hell's wrong with her?"

"She has short term memory loss," she laughed bitterly. "Came off the bad end of an oblivation charm when she was really young. Something about an uncle and a bet and at times she swears a llama was involved." Ron only stared at Hannah as she cast a wary look at Dory. "Her memory comes and goes as it pleases. It's unfortunate, really. She's really bright."

Ron was coming back to his senses. "This is all really bloody weird," he muttered. "Shouldn't she be in Mungo's?" He walked out away from the puddle of water that he was still standing in and leaned up against the back of Dory's bed. She was still looking in the mirror. Ron studied her for a few moments, and then turned his attention back to Hannah. "Why haven't I seen her before?" he asked in a slightly demanding tone.

"Hey, it's lucky if she wakes up knowing who she is. As long as she gets to some class, they consider it a success."

"And the fish tank?" Ron's blurted out, only now thinking how it was odd that Hannah had attended to that first.

"Now that, that is a funny story," Hannah said in slightly quieter tones. She had a mischievous grin on her face. "You see, Dory, she's an Animagus."

Ron's eyebrows raised. "How'd she do it?"

"She doesn't remember."

"Well when did she do it?"

"She doesn't remember that part, either." 

Ron was becoming more and more irritated with this girl. "Well, what does she turn into?"

"That I do know," Hannah said. "A fish."

"A- I'm sorry, a what?"

"A fish," Hannah repeated. "A Regal Blue Tang, specifically." At Ron's raised eye, she added, "You know, the deep blue one, with the black markings and the yellow tipped fins."

Ron still had no clue what that fish was, but he just nodded dumbly. "Why… Let me guess, she doesn't know." Hannah only smiled. "Well then. Can I, er, go?"

"Sure, you're free. I'd suggest putting your clothes on first." Hannah smirked as Ron realized that he was still only wearing his school robe around his waist. Flushing with embarrassment, he went back around the side of the bed and gathered his jeans and shirt. Hannah turned to give him privacy, and he quickly shoved his body into his clothing. He then walked passed Hannah and started to open the door. "Okay, I'll be going-"

"Hi, you're new!" came a sing-song voice from the other end of the room. Ron turned to see Dory looking over to him. "Have we met? Because you see, I have short term memory loss and I don't remember a lot of things half the time. I'm Dory! Who are you? Have we met?" Ron looked to Hannah who looked gleeful.

"He's Ron, Dory, and he has to go now. I'll see you later," she added, making motions for him to go.

Ron was grateful for the chance to be able to slip out. He shut the door behind him and then bolted through the common room and out of the portrait hole, gaining some confused stares in his wake. As the portrait hole shut, Ron leaned on the wall, breathing heavily. What had he gotten himself into?


	2. Part Two: Breakfast Breakthroughs

**Part Two|Breakfast Breakthroughs**

Ron was wandering the corridors at random. His feet automatically shuffled through the familiar paths that he had been trotting the past six years. Cutting through many of the secret passageways that he and Harry had discovered using Harry's ever helpful Marauders' Map, his mind was racing, his thoughts were completely jumbled. _I hooked up with a girl who doesn't even remember last night. She's raving and she changes personalities every few minutes. _"Since when did Hogwarts allow complete nutters in?" he muttered to himself.

Ron's brooding was interrupted with an uncomfortable churning in his abdomen, followed by a low gurgling sound. This ache wasn't to do with his unsettled feeling about his current predicament; he was hungry. Ron stopped and looked around. It took him a second to realize that he was on the first floor. If he wasn't mistaken, the next portrait on his right side would lead him to the side entrance of the Great Hall. Opening the small latch on the side of said portrait, he walked down the sloping path and opened the door at the end.

His eyes were greeted by a rather packed Great Hall. He was shocked: he didn't think he had been wandering for that long, but it was apparent that he had. He really needed to wear his watch. It was still sitting in its case that he had opened on his birthday, all those weeks ago. He had yet to put it on.

He walked passed the Slytherin table, ignoring the calling jeers of "Weasel King" and the mocking salute to his "royalty." He had gotten used to these calls, though he wasn't as brave as Harry to call and mock them right back.

As he approached the Gryffindor table on the far side of the spacious room, Ron quickly recognized Harry, his messy black hair bobbing around the other tops of heads. What he was surprised to see, though, was another red head sitting across from him. Ron wondered why Ginny was talking to Harry. _Maybe Quidditch? _It was odd, though. To Ron, Harry seemed to be… glowing. He was radiating happiness. Ron had a faint idea and briefly wondered how long that had been happening. He really missed a lot during his stint with Lavender. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his head and continued to the table.

"Well, thanks, Harry," Ginny said, rising from her seat.

Harry fumbled with the goblet of pumpkin juice in his hand, sloshing a bit of it onto the table. "Oh, yeah, anytime, Ginny. I'll be around, you know where to find me." Harry hastily took his napkin and began to wipe up the spill.

Ginny laughed and turned, almost running straight into Ron. "God, Ron, you scared me," she said in a slightly irritated voice. "Where've you been, anyways?"

Ron opened his mouth and racked his brain for something. "Uh, you know, walking around. You know how I wake up early… You know." Ron still felt lame with his answer, despite the fact it was the truth. Well, most of it anyways.

Ginny's sharp green eyes pierced his, and she stared him down, waiting for him to break and say more. When he didn't, though, she just raised her eyebrows. "Alright then. See you two around." With that, she walked around Ron and out of the Great Hall.

Ron sat down in the seat Ginny just vacated and began to fill the plate in front of him with bacon and pancakes. Harry was looking at him with a suspicious look. "Walking around, really? Have you been walking around since last night? You never came back from your kitchen adventure while I was still awake- which was a long time, mind you, I was finishing Slughorn's antidotes essay- and then you were gone before I awoke. I think you have some explaining to do." Harry leaned back from the table and stared at his best friend, waiting for a truthful response.

Ron was torn. He'd never kept secrets from his best friend before. His fears, his likes, even some of his most embarrassing moments had been shared with Harry. He was the greatest form of friend there was. He took every word Ron said seriously and never made him feel as if he was any less of a friend for the things he said. Even so, he was still apprehensive about telling Harry. _Telling him the story would mean having to tell about last night, when we… _A smile suddenly lit up on Ron's face, and a dreamy, vacant expression clouded his eyes. My God, he had done it, he had actually done it. In all of the shock from what had happened his morning had clouded over the fact that he had actually gotten with a girl.

Ron was lost in his sudden recollection that he barely registered what Harry was now saying. "-and besides, Ginny wasn't inclined to believe you at all. It's probably due to the fact that your hair is sopping wet. What did you do, Ron? You really need to- why are you smiling? You look like a complete idiot. Honestly, you look like-" Harry stopped, his eyes growing wide. "You didn't!" 

Ron looked up to Harry, his dreamy expression slowly drifting away. "Didn't what? Harry, why are you looking at me like that?" Ron felt his voice catch. A lump was quickly rising in his throat. He knew.

Harry's words came out slowly; a grin was slowing breaking across his face. "If I wasn't sure, I'd say that you had the shag of your life last night, and now you're confused about it," Harry said dramatically. "Tell me I'm right!"

The tips of Ron's ears flamed up and turned scarlet, matching the rest of his face. It was good enough as an affirmative for Harry. Pumping his hand in the air, Harry gave an excited, "YES!" which attracted attention from the other end of the table. Taking care to keep his voice down low, Harry leaned across the table to Ron. "Who was she? Don't question it, mate, everyone needs a good bounce back, especially after Lavender. Come on, tell me, I don't really mind who. Besides, I won't tell Hermione. Come on. Do we know her, she in our year? What?"

This last word was addressed to the person who was now standing behind Ron. He slowly turned in his chair and, to his horror, stood Dory. Harry caught the expression in Ron's face and instantly understood.

"Are you, uhm," Dory looked down into her hands. Ron noticed that she was clutching a book, one awfully familiar to him. "Ron Weasley?" the girl asked, reading the name off of the inside cover of the book.

"I am," Ron said thickly, his voice shaking.

"Yeah, well this book was in my room. Hannah said I could find you here." She gestured with one hand behind her. Ron looked around her and saw a panicked looking Hannah Abbot nearly sprint into the room. Seeing Dory with Ron, she began to walk towards him, an annoyed expression on her face. "Anyways, I'd prefer that you'd keep up with your stuff next time. I don't know how it got underneath my bed, but if I find anything else of yours there, I'll file a complaint." She thrust the book, _Flying with the Cannons_, into Ron's stone still arms and turned and walked haughtily away. Hannah grabbed hold of Dory, who smiled up to her saying, "Hi, I'm Dory!" Hannah had an exasperated look on her face and dragged her away. Looking back to Ron, she gestured to Dory and mouthed the word, "Later" back at him. Ron gave a slight nod and turned back to Harry.

"Her," Ron muttered weakly.

Harry whistled. "Well, she seems a bit-"

"She has short term memory loss," Ron said abruptly. "She doesn't remember that we even did it and she attacked me when she woke up this morning in my arms." Ron put his head in his hands miserably.

"She attacked you?" Harry asked, genuine concern filling his voice. "Are you okay?"

Ron's voice came out muffled from under his arms. "She only slapped me a few times, nothing more. Hannah Abbot intervened at the perfect time."

"Wow, Ron. That's… that's interesting right there. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," he wailed.

Harry put a serious face on; no doubt he was trying to think of a solution to Ron's newfound girl problem. He was about to voice an opinion, when a bushy haired girl joined them at the table.

"I simply cannot believe I slept in today," she said, filling up her plate. "Today, of all days! I have a tutoring session soon and then a meeting with McGonagall at 1. I'm worried that my sofa still has monkey-ish features, I was supposed to study for Snape's exam he hinted at giving in the last lesson, and I just don't have time for this today! Harry, why looking so serious? And what's wrong with Ron?"

"Discussing Quidditch," Harry replied smoothly. "The Cannons lost their last game, putting them out for any chance in the quarter finals." Harry had a knack for being able to pull small lies out of his head to calm Hermione, and Ron was grateful for it. True, the Cannons were out for the rest of the season, but Hermione's low level of Quidditch knowledge wouldn't allow her to know that the Cannons had fallen out of the running weeks ago. Not that she would have known from Ron when it had actually happened; he was still busying being wrapped around Lavender during that time.

"Why are you worrying so much anyways, Hermione?" Harry asked, taking the last bite of pancake from his plate. "It's Saturday. Besides, you already know how to identify a werewolf, you've known since our third year. And how does a sofa have monkey attributes, anyways?"

Hermione tittered. "You wouldn't understand. Maybe if you paid attention in Transfiguration for once, instead of playing with fake wands in class, you'd might understand. Enough about me, though. What are you all doing with your day? School work, I hope."

"Ah, no such luck, Hermione," Harry replied back. "We have Quidditch practice right at tw- one." Ron noticed the falter in Harry's voice. What interested him more was the fact that Harry had lied about the times. Practice was at two because Coote had dentition until 1:30 with Sprout for purposefully upsetting the Mandrakes that were resting in the back of class by planting stink pellets into their pots. Ron didn't say anything though.

"But surely you have time to do something before then. It's only 9:48!" Hermione bolted up. "I have tutoring at 10!" she said in alarm. "Why did I ever sleep in?" She picked up an apple from the table and turned to leave. "Bye Harry, Ron…" she looked at the latter, who still had his head buried in his hands. "Boy, he's taking this pretty hard," she said, staring down at Ron with a troubled expression.

"They really had a chance!" Harry called out to Hermione's retreating figure.

Ron lifted his head from his hands. "Thanks," he said appreciatively.

"Just tell me one thing," Harry said, leaning back in towards Ron, a half smirk formed on his face. "Was it good?"

Ron couldn't help but grin as he looked up to his best friend. "'Mazing."


	3. Part Three: Confidential Explanations

**Part Three|Confidential Explanations**

The rest of the morning passed rather uneventfully for Ron, and he was extremely grateful for this. He finally got his hair dried completely, although now it was being uncontrollably poofy. He spent an hour copying Harry's antidote essay, although he had make an effort not to sound as if he copied.

"Just let me see what the Prince has to say about this!" Ron said in frustration as he made yet another cross out on his parchment. He could already tell that he was going to have to copy this over once he had finished.

Harry looked up from the couch. He once again had his nose buried in his potions book, studying another set of notes from the elusive Prince. In addition to that, Ron noted the Marauder's Map laying underneath the book. He pushed his glasses up from the tip of his nose and looked to his redheaded best friend. "What d'you need it for? You already have my essay which actually sounds really good."

"Yeah, but it'll look mighty funny if we both have an entire section on beazors when everyone knows that you were the one to think of it. Just let me study what the Prince says about making antidotes and I'll make up something about how I went wrong."

Harry sighed. Pulling out his wand, he tapped the page he was on, and it make a little mark on the page. He then shut the book and tossed it to his friend. Ron caught it with a delighted look in his eye. "Thanks, mate!" he said, he opened the book to the chapter on antidotes. "What did you mark, anyways?"

"Hm? Oh, just another spell," Harry was now pulling out the map and began to open it.

"What kind? Like levicorpus?"

"Not really. _For enemies_ it said. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"Oh, careful with that one, mate," Ron warned. Harry's eyebrows furrowed with slight annoyance, but he didn't say anything back. The two sat for a minute and watched as the map became animated with footprints tracking through the passages of the school, their names floating behind them. "Who are you looking for on the map?" Ron asked after a few minutes.

"Draco."

"Seriously? You need to let that go. Obsessing over him isn't going to solve anything."

"I'm not obsessing," Harry said shortly. "Don't you have an essay to write? If you're not going to use my book, I'll gladly take it back."

Ron, noting the flare of anger in his friend's voice, dropped the subject and went back to work on his essay. He wasn't as good as reading the Prince's untidy scrawl as Harry was, so it was slow going. After a few minutes, he found what he needed and began to finish up his essay.

"He's not on here," Harry concluded ten minutes later. "Mischief Managed… well, not really." Ron glanced over to him for a second, and then went back to his essay. He only needed a sentence or two and then he would be done. Taking a look at the definition of an antidote, he reworded it and, with a flourish, wrote the last word on his paper.

"Done, all three feet," Ron said. "Didn't even have to make my handwriting bigger at the end." He closed the book and threw it back over to Harry who put it into his bag and took a look at his watch.

"Blimey, it's already 1:10. We need to get out there." Harry quickly dashed up the stairs to the dormitory; Ron was right behind him.

"We don't really have practice at one though, Harry. Remember Coote…"

"Yeah, I know, it's not really practice that we're going out there for." Harry put his bag down and picked up his broom from inside of his trunk. Ron did the same. "You and I, we need to have a talk."

Ron dropped his broom carelessly onto the bench in the Gryffindor locker room. He then turned to his locker and began to pull out his practice uniform. Harry walked in behind him and just leaned up against the opposite wall. Ron turned to look at him. "What?"

"Sit down, my dear Ronald," Harry said, smiling in an odd way. Ron stared Harry with a raised eye, but did as he was told, sitting next to his broom on the bench. "So tell me, how exactly did it happen?"

Ron sighed, of course this was what Harry wanted to talk about. "Er, well you know how I went down to the kitchens last night for a snack…" Harry nodded, urging him on. "And well, she was walking out, and I was going to tell her off for being out late, since I'm a prefect and all. But she came up to me, and well, erm, seduced me…"

Harry successfully hid a snigger and just nodded to him. "Well, then what."

"She said that she had been waiting for me and had a surprise for me, so I followed her to the Hufflepuff common room and she brought me up to her dorm, and then she pounced me. Then this morning, she, well, attacked me and Hannah had to distract her. She told me about her- her problem and then I left."

Harry stared at Ron for a few minutes thinking. Ron nervously sat there and waited for Harry's verdict. He felt completely awkward at having to explain the scenario. "How did your hair end up wet? Are you just that sweaty?"

"No," Ron retorted. "Her fish tank fell on my head when I fell off her bed his morning. After she slapped me."

"Why does she have a fish tank?"

"She's an Animagus."

"And she turns into a fish? Why?"

"She doesn't know."

Harry just stared at Ron, dumbstuck. "Why is she at Hogwarts. Shouldn't she be in Mungo's or something?"

Ron snorted out laughter. "I asked the same exact thing. I dunno."

"Geeze, Ron. For once your life is more interesting than mine." Harry grinned and began to pull his practice uniform out of his locker.

"It's not like I want it to!"

"Not want what?" The two boys froze and looked at the entrance, where Ginny stood.

"He doesn't want to do what I have planned for today," Harry said smoothly, after realizing that it was only her. Ron stared at Ginny a second longer and then turned his gaze to Harry. Was it just his imagination, or had Harry's smile gotten bigger when she walked in?

"Ron never wants to do any sort of activity," Ginny said, laughing. "I see you got your hair to dry. You look like you're six again: your hair is puffy." Ron self-consciously pressed his hands down on his hair making an ill attempt at controlling it.

"Shut it, Ginny," he muttered.

"Whatever. What do you have planned for practice, O Fearless Leader?" Ginny asked Harry in mocking tones.

"That's O Fearless Leader Potter to you, Weasley," Harry countered back, grinning. "I was thinking we'd practice penalty shots since Ravenclaw's prone to fouling pretty badly." Ron shot Harry a rude look. How much he hated being under pressure! "And then I was thinking we'd do a one sided scrimmage."

"And what will us beaters do while you're practicing penalties?" came a new voice. Peakes and Coote had just arrived, the latter looking completely worn out. Clearly, Professor Sprout thought he owed a lot for messing with the Mandrakes.

"Just beat the bludgers back and forth between the two of you. Juggle with them. Or set up targets, I really don't care as long as you're doing something."

"Fine with me," Peakes said, pulling out his bat.

Coote slid up next to him and started to put on his practice shirt. "Just go easy on me, mate, I'm utterly worn."

Ron was exhausted. Penalties had taken longer than he had wanted them to, partially due to the fact that he was completely off today. He felt bad that he wasn't doing well at all, but every time the red Quaffle came hurling towards him, he just imagined Dory coming to slap him again. He could see the exasperated looks on his teammate's faces, and Harry was displeased, Ron could tell, but he didn't say anything to him in front of the others.

About halfway through, Harry called a break. The others quickly zoomed down to the bench, but Ron slowly floated down behind everyone else. Harry flew over to him. "Look, Ron, I know that you are distracted beyond imagination, but you're going to have to pull it together. Just don't think about her, focus on Quidditch. You're better with this, and you proved that at the first game. Get some water, focus your mind, and when you come back up I want you to be ready, alright?"

Ron merely nodded and flew down to the bench. He got some water and began to use Harry's advice. _She's not out here, so she doesn't matter. She has nothing to do with Quidditch, therefore, she shouldn't ruin your game._ Ron kept up a stream of thoughts like these for the remainder of the break, and when he went back out, he was ready.

Ron's saves were superb after that. His save where he twisted completely off of his broom and kicked the Quaffle out with the edge of his toe really brought up the overall mood of the practice. Soon, they were having an intense scrimmage. Ron had successfully saved all but two Quaffles, both coming from his sister. Ginny was exceptional, there was no doubt about that. She was coming back for a third time, and Ron braced himself. He watched her carefully. She was speeding through the air, her eyes locked on him. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw as her foot twitched to Ron's left. Not even thinking, Ron dove that way, and a split second later, Ron had the Quaffle in his hands.

"How did you know I was going that way?" Ginny asked in disbelief. Ron chuckled and was about to reply, when

"Hey, Ron!"

Ron turned and looked down, and saw the last person he'd wanted to see. "Ron! Come down for a minute! I need to talk to you."

Everyone looked from the girl to Ron. "What's with the Hufflepuff?" Coote asked angrily. "How long as she been there? She's probably been spying on us!"

"She hasn't," Harry said, recognizing her. "She just walked in. Go see what she wants, Ron. You lot, you're free to go," Harry added to the rest of the team. "Good practice. Tomorrow at the same time, then?"

As the rest of the Gryffindors flew off the pitch, Ron flew down towards Dory, looking at her quizzically. As he touched down, he looked into her beaming face. "Er, hi."

"Hi, Ron! I was told I could meet you here." Dory looked at Ron with her round startling blue eyes. "You see, I remembered last night, and I kind of feel bad about this morning. I just wanted to say sorry, and to get to know you better."

"You remembered?" Ron asked, unsure.

"Yes, I know, it's weird for me as well. I'm sure Hannah told you about my predicament?"

"Yeah, she may have mentioned it in passing." Ron moved his hair out of the way of his eyes and stared at her, unsure.

"Well, it's odd, but I've never remembered anything like this before. I know I've done it in the past, but you're the only one I've ever remembered afterwards. It's something new to me. There's just something about you that's different, something that made me remember." Dory looked troubled. No doubt she had a hard time with her problem, and a surge of pity went through Ron.

"I just wanted to say, you were phenomenal last night, and if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get to know you better. Just to sit and chat, maybe find out why exactly you affect me like this. Would you like to?" Dory gave a small smile to the ginger and looked hopefully up to him.

Ron blushed deeply, his face slowly matching the color of his hair. "T-thanks. You were amazing as well," Ron stuttered out. He looked at the girl. Clearly, being able to remember something was extremely important to her. If he, Ron, was the key to helping her recover, he would love to help. There was only one small thing bothering him. "It won't be like a date, right?"

"Oh, no, of course not," Dory said. "If it becomes one, just head me off. I never know what I'll end up doing."

"Sure, then," Ron agreed. His current luck with girls wasn't working to his fancy, and for the time being, he'd rather just be friends. But if a chat was all it would be, Ron was game. "If you do get, you know, how do I head you off?"

"Bring forget-me-nots," she answered promptly. Ron couldn't help but laugh at the irony. "Funny, isn't it? But they act almost as an automatic reset for me. They're also the same color as my eyes." Dory smiled. "How about next Saturday? It's a Hogsmeade weekend and we can figure things out over Butterbeer."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Ron said.

"Until then." Dory gave a small wave and departed out of the exit. Ron stood there and watched as her figure walked across the grounds until he couldn't see her anymore. He then began to head to the locker room. The rest of the team was long gone. As Ron washed down, he wondered what exactly would next Saturday bring.


	4. Part Four: A Week in the Life

**Part Four|A Week in the Life**

The following week reverted back to almost complete normalcy for Ron. There were only a few marked differences in the week, but, besides those, he carried on with his life as regularly as possible.

Of course, right after he had returned from practice, Ron confided in Harry about his upcoming meeting with Dory. Harry agreed that the idea would be best. Ron then asked if Harry wouldn't mention it to Hermione. Harry agreed without asking any questions, though his raised eyebrow was enough to give Ron a hint that he was intrigued by this request.

Throughout the week, Ron only saw Dory twice. The first time, he was heading through the corridors with Harry to get to Potions class after their break. She was walking out of the Transfiguration classroom, a dazed and blank look on her face. Walking out of the classroom behind her was a crowd of Slytherin first years who were staring at her, shooting disdainful looks at her back and then turning to one another to gossip about her. Ron raised his hand into a half-wave to her, but she either didn't recognize or see him. Slightly let down that he wasn't noticed, Ron turned on the first years who were snickering at her still, and told them off for loitering in the hall.

The second time was more direct. Ron had walked outside of the portrait hole straight into her. "Sorry," Ron muttered without looking who it was. Once he lifted his head, though, he froze. "Er, hullo Dory." Ron waited to see if she would recognize him or not.

Dory straightened her blouse which had been rumpled when the two collided. She slowly looked up to the ginger and opened her mouth as if she was going to speak. Instead, she just gave Ron the most confused look. "I… I came up here for something, but I've forgotten," she finally admitted.

"Oh, well, d'you need help?" Ron asked, worried about her.

"No, no, I'll just go back to my common room. Giving Ron one last look, she turned and went back down the corridor. Before she was to take the exit to the stairs, though, Ron noticed that she turned to look at him one last time. He faintly heard what sounded like, "I think I know him." She then turned and left.

Besides those two encounters, Ron never saw Dory. It wasn't much of a surprise that he hadn't noticed her before. He often found himself thinking about her and what she could be doing right at that moment, but other things often got in Ron's concentration of her.

Quidditch, for instance, was staring to go in full swing. Harry began to give Ron pep talks before each practice, which resulted in better practices for Ron. This would lift the moral of the team as a whole, especially when Ron perfected the save-kick move he started. With a few more practices like that, he might be able to kick the Quaffle straight into the hoops of the opposite goal.

The team walked back together to the common room every night, chattering animatedly about the practice and how their chances were going to be in the upcoming came against Ravenclaw which was in two weeks.

On Tuesday night, though, Ron's cheeriness was cut short as soon as he entered the common room and was confronted by a rather angry Hermione. "Sit," she said shortly, pointing towards one of the chairs in the back corner of the common room. The smile on Ron's face quickly slid off. Ron glanced to Harry for some support, but he merely stared in confusion at Hermione.

Doing as he was told, Ron quickly made his way over to the corner. He leaned his broom against the wall and took his seat in the overstuffed armchair. Harry stood in the background next to Ginny and a small crowd of on-lookers, wondering exactly what had Hermione in such a mood.

At first, she merely paced back and forth in front of where Ron was sitting, pausing every few moments to stare at him with a disdainful look. After several minutes, most of those in the common room had turned back to their previous endeavors. Harry and Ginny still stayed, their eyes moving with Hermione's figure. Ron couldn't take the silence any more. Getting up from his seat, he stood in front of where Hermione was pacing. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or am I supposed to read your brain?"

Hermione stopped pacing and stood straight in front of Ron, almost shaking in anger. "Ronald Weasley," she began in a low threatening voice. "You know, I could deal with your precious _Lav-Lav_," she began scathingly. "Mainly because you didn't try to _hide_ it. But now I had to find out, from the girl's loo, of all places, that you have a date this weekend with some bimbo, apparently."

"No, what you see, it's-" But Ron wasn't able to finish. Others in the common room were watching from the corner of their eyes, sending snickering looks towards their friends.

"Not only that, but apparently this isn't the first time you've spent _time_ with her, am I correct?" Ron nodded meekly and heard a gasp from the other side of the room. Ron's eyes flickered to the sound for a moment, and he saw Ginny standing there with wide eyes. She had clearly understood what Hermione had said. "Do you know how embarrassing it is to walk out of a stall into a mass of girls talking about your friend, them realizing that you are their subject's friend, and then asking for details on everything? Details for something which I know NOTHING ABOUT." Hermione was nearly shouting now. Everyone in the common room had abandoned their work and were now openly staring at the two in the corner. Harry hurried to Hermione and cautiously put his hands on her shoulders.

"If you calm down, we'll explain everything," he said under his breath to Hermione. She looked as if explanations weren't something she was looking for. Harry took her paused moment to start to direct her outside of the common room so they could talk, but Hermione shook him off.

"Everyone clear out, NOW!" she bellowed. "I am a prefect, and if you aren't gone within the next five seconds, you will all be in detention a month for every second you're over. One…"

It took only three seconds for the room to be empty. Ginny was the only other person to stay behind. Taking out her wand, Hermione pointed at the dormitory doors and said "Muffalito." Now their conversation was entirely between themselves; no one could overhear.

Hermione stalked over to the couch in front of the fireplace and sat down with her arms crossed. "Convince me," she said.

"I thought you didn't approve of Muffalito because of…" Ron's voice faltered and the attempt at a smirk fell from his face. Harry stood behind the couch Hermione was sitting on, his face was with warning to Ron. _Just tell her_, Harry mouthed.

Ron sighed. "Alright." From behind him, Ron could hear Ginny shifting in her seat behind him; of course she'd want to hear everything. "It's like, I was just, and she seduced me and… I don't know where to start," Ron looked up to Harry for help.

"Maybe you could start with who the girl is," Hermione growled from her perch on the couch.

"Alright, well. Her name is Dory. I don't actually know her last name…" Hermione let out a sarcastic snicker that was so unlike how she usually is.

"Not surprising, since apparently you just jump on all the girl's these days." Ron ignored the jab. "What year is she in, anyways?" Hermione's voice had softened a bit, as it always did whenever she was learning something. Ron took the opportunity to share what he knew.

"Definitely in ours," he said firmly. "Considering Hannah Abbot walked in when she started wailing at me."

"Hufflepuff?" Hermione asked inquisitively. The hard look on her face fell off; she was completely intrigued. "That can't be. I know all of the students in our year, and most of the ones in the year below us. I've never even heard of a Dory."

"Yeah, well I s'pose you wouldn't've," Ron said, scratching the back of his head. "You see… she kind of has a problem." Hermione merely raised her eyebrow. "She has, ah, short term memory loss. She hardly goes to any of her classes, let alone participates with our class. They say it's luck if she wanders into the right class at all."

Hermione just stared at Ron. The look on her face was a mixture of disbelief and agitation. Ron didn't know what else he could say, so he stood there awkwardly, swaying on the spot as he let the information he had just confessed sink in.

Ginny on the other hand found the whole story rather amusing. She had been making small squeaks of poorly concealed laughter ever since Ron had said "short term memory loss," but now, in the silence, she couldn't contain herself any longer. She burst out with laughter which made the other three jump where they were. Ron shot her a look of irritation that she either missed or ignored. Hermione, on the other hand, made a point to stop her. "Ginny, if you can't calm yourself down, I will have no qualms with giving you detention as well," she said shortly to the red head.

Ginny gulped in air and stifled her giggles. "Sorry, 'Mione," Ginny said. She turned to Ron who was still staring in anger at her. "But are you telling me you had sex with _Dory_?"

"You know her?" Ron and Hermione both asked, astounded.

"Well, yeah," Ginny said as if it were the most known fact in the world. "She's weirder than Loony Lovegood, though at least she has an excuse." Ron couldn't help but give a small chuckle at that. "The two hang out together, actually. But she usually just wanders around until she ends up back in the Hospital Wing. Though the fact that you had sex with her isn't surprising. Doesn't she go after a different guy every term?"

Ron shrugged, even though he knew that Ginny had said was true. "So you had sex with a girl who gets around with other guys and who probably doesn't even remember her name?" Hermione asked. Ron turned.

"Well, you make it sound so bad…"

"Just answer the question, Ronald," Hermione snapped.

"Well… yeah, pretty much. But she was just so intriguing and I couldn't help myself," Ron blurted out.

"About time you're got some," Ginny muttered from the corner.

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?" Ron said, turning again to his sister.

Ginny had hopped up and was putting her books into her bag. "Well it wasn't like Lavender could do anything else well with her mouth besides have it stuck to yours. And don't give me that look, Ron. News spreads faster between girls." Ginny smirked at the look of horror on her brother's face. "But I've learned all I needed to know, besides, I'm tired. Night." With that, she walked across the room and turned up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

Ron turned back to his two friends. Harry was staring intently in the direction of the stairway to the girl's dormitory where Ginny had just disappeared to. Hermione was deep in thought.

"Okay, so you screwed a girl," she said finally with the sound of being let down in her voice. "And who knows what else. But it's not like I can control every aspect of your life. I'd prefer it, though, if you didn't keep secrets from me. And you," Hermione snapped in front of Harry's glazed over eyes. "You need to control Ron and his little friend, and by the looks of it, you need to control yours as well." Ron wasn't quite sure what exactly Hermione was insinuating. "So, about this date between you two?"

"It's not a date," Ron said, quickly. "She just wants to get to know me better, she said. Something about her remembering our, uh, encounter and it interesting her."

"And what if she loses herself and lunges at you in a sexual rage again," Hermione asked.

"She told me to bring her a… I think it was a flower? Something about it resetting her or something." _I should probably remember what that was_, Ron thought to himself.

A familiar look crossed Hermione's face. "What?" Ron asked. She was clearly thinking of something. It was the look she had when something was triggered in her brain.

"Don't worry about it." Standing up, Hermione yawned. "I think I'm going to have to agree with Ginny: I'm tired as well. I'll see you in the morning. Until then, don't go around behind my back again." Hermione gave a half hearted wave and then followed Ginny's path up to the dorm rooms.

Harry walked around from behind the couch and approached his friend. "Well at least you got off fairly well, this time," Harry said, clapping his friend on the back. The two then took the stairs on the opposite side of the room to their own beds.

As it was on most Friday afternoons, the class was hardly paying attention to what was happening. It was the last class of the day before they were free for the weekend. The fact that it was also the Friday before a Hogsmeade weekend increased the inactivity of the class even more. Most of the students were either staring wistfully into blank space or hissing plans on which shops to visit the next day, regardless of the fact that they had all been going to the village for the past three years and nothing much had changed.

Herbology was neither here nor there to Ron. It was a fairly easy class, though there was still a good amount of actual studying that had to be done when a test would crop up from seemingly nowhere. The day's lesson wasn't an interesting one: it was an introduction of advanced plants and their magical properties.

Hermione was easily the only one paying attention in the class. Harry and Ron were having a game of hangman going on a piece of parchment. Ron had been doing so horribly that his man was now revolting on the paper, not willing to go to the gallows even if Ron had guessed a correct letter.

It was while Ron was trying to poke his man with his quill when he happened to hear something he was familiar with. "_Forget Me Not's, a common blue flower found in many muggle gardens…"_

"That's it," Ron hissed suddenly. Harry and Hermione both turned to him in shock, their faces asking for an explanation. "That, the Forget-Me-Not. That was what Dory told me to bring to calm her. She said that it would restart her."

"That makes perfect sense, why didn't I remember-" Hermione's whispered shock was cut off by a rather irked Professor Sprout.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize weekend plans were more important than life altering plants. Please, do go ahead with your conversation. While you're at it, though, I'm sure you won't mind ten points being taken from Gryffindor." Sprout was already frustrated at the fact that no one was paying attention to her. The rather animated conversation going on between the three in the back had sent her over the edge.

"Sorry, Professor Sprout," the trio said in unison.

"As I was saying, Forget-Me-Not's can affect the memory of people, usually making them forget what it was they were doing. It can be taken as a potion…"

"Or if a person reacts strongly to it, merely it's presence can cause memory alterations as well," Hermione finished, reading it from the book quietly. "That's why she said to bring it. It'll reset her mind."

"At least she remembered something important," Harry muttered, looking back at the parchment where they had been playing hangman. Ron's stick figure had left.

All it took was Hermione apologizing after the lesson for Sprout to be distracted enough for Ron to procure the flower he needed. "There are dozens in here," he said looking at the over filling tray. "She won't notice one missing." With that, Ron picked up one of the plants in a pot and, signaling Hermione, they made their way back up to their common room.

The flower sat in the middle of the table. The three of them were staring intently at it. Hermione had read all there was in_ One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ on the flower, but it wasn't much more than what had been discussed in class.

"Well, hopefully it works," Harry said, looking at the flower skeptically.

"It should," Hermione said reassuringly. "The logic is completely sound. Just don't forget it, okay Ron?"

"Of course not," Ron said quietly, his head resting on the table as he looked at it without blinking. Why would he forget something that could solve so many mysteries? Besides, he wasn't the one with the memory problems.


	5. Part Five: More Questions Than Answers

**Part Five|More Questions than Answers**

It had been a fairly wet season. It had been hoped that as springtime wore on, the amount of rain would let up, but it seemed that the opposite had happened. It was now May, and the last hopes in the "April showers bring May flowers" had washed away with the rain.

There had been more days with rain than there had been without, much to the student's dismay. It was with ill luck that Snape was the one set for duty that week, a part of his job that he loathed. It wasn't all that surprising that he took his anger out on the students and refused to let them inside during breaks. "It's only water," he said in his voice, a small hint of a smile playing at the edge of his usually upturned lips, glee at causing the students even more discomfort as they stood in huddles in the corners of the courtyard as they attempted to stay out of the never ending showers.

The Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip was greeted with a dull, cloudy, yet surprisingly rainless morning. It brought smiles to the younger students' faces, though the older students were wary; it was impossible that the weather would stay this clear for long. It was best to hurry and do their main business early in the day, before the sky decided to open back up on them.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione were the last to walk down the stone steps outside of the castle, though. Hannah Abbot had cornered Ron the night before after dinner. "Dory's going to meet you outside of Hogwarts. Then _you two_ can go to Hogsmeade together. It'll help her from getting lost before you two even get to talk." The emphasis on the "you two" Hannah had said wasn't lost to Hermione and Harry. "Well I'm sure too many people would overwhelm her," Hermione reasoned. It slightly irked Harry that she was most likely correct; he wanted to watch the exchange between the two.

It didn't take too long to come across Dory. She was accompanied, to Ron's dismay, by what had to be the second most eccentric person in Hogwarts: Luna Lovegood. Ron watched as the two made their way, not from the castle, but up the hill from the Black Lake. As they came closer, Ron became aware of two things. One, Dory was singing a song. It wasn't one that he'd ever heard before, and his guess that it was one she had made up. It was composed of one line, repeated over and over: "Just Keep Swimming." There were a few variations of the words, but for the most part, the song kept going like that. The second thing Ron saw was that she was soaking wet.

The two groups met. Luna was looking rather peeved. Ron thought it was the first time she had ever looked anywhere near normal. "Here she is," she said in a flat voice, her irritation only slightly repressed. "Erm, hi there, Dory," Ron said, eyeing her. Harry had all but died in a fit giggles, hardly masking them with a poorly performed fake cough; Hermione's lips were pursed with equal elation. "Why are you wet?"

"I was swimming in the lake, looking for whales," she replied promptly, her voice bright and cheery, as if that were the most natural thing to be doing at 8 on a Saturday morning. She eyed Harry and Hermione who were behind Ron, their glee not any better hidden. "Who are they?"

Harry actually choked behind Ron. It was pretty much unheard of for someone to not know who _he_ was. "They're my friends," Ron replied, ignoring Harry. "Why were you swimming in the lake looking for whales?" he asked tentatively. "As far as I've heard there's only the giant squid in there. And some merepeople," Ron added as an afterthought. From the corner of his eye, he could see Harry give an involuntary shudder.

It was Luna, not Dory, who answered. "She wanted to prove to me that whales had more magic in their saliva than nargles have in their horns." Luna sounded offended, as if anything could be more powerful than the ever infamous nargle. "I tried telling her that not only are there not whales in the Black Lake, whales don't have magical properties at all. Daddy did a study on them right before he started the Quibbler. He said it was lucky that they even swam straight, let alone had anything magical about them."

"Oh we're talking about whales? I can talk to them!" Dory pipped up. Hermione just stared at her with a look that was crossed between disdain and confusion.

"Yeah, she's been making these horrid noises all morning," Luna added. She then made an imitation of what she said Dory had been doing. It sounded to Ron that she was speaking English, just with a deeper and more elongated syllables. "Like that would work with anything besides a Eumpherant," she concluded.

"Wow, I wish I could speak Whale!" Dory said, looking to Luna in awe. "You'll have to teach me." Harry and Hermione had yet to fully see how Dory was, so they were completely struck dumb at this. "You are so interesting!" Dory was still saying to Luna. "Hi, I'm Dory.

"Thanks," the blonde Ravenclaw said flatly. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going up to Hogsmeade with Hermione. You have fun with Ron." With that, Luna turned on her heel, more than glad to be leaving Dory's company. Harry and Hermione shared a startled look at Luna's rudeness at the retreating Ravenclaw's back.

Harry clasped a hand on Ron's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Good luck mate," he murmured. Hermione gave him an encouraging nod. She then turned and began to walk briskly after Luna's retreating figure. Harry gave one last look to Ron, then walked back towards the castle. Ron couldn't remember why exactly he was not going to Hogsmeade this time around.

Ron turned to Dory, who was staring up expectantly at him. "I know you!" she announced suddenly. "You're Ron. I found your book in under my bed one time. Did I return it?" Ron only nodded dazedly. "Hm, I feel like we've done more than that. Maybe I'll remember later!" _Fat chance_, Ron thought as he looked at her hopeful smile.

"Well, shall we go then?" He asked, looking towards the well-worn path to Hogsmeade. To his dismay, the others' silhouettes were long gone. Ron gulped; once again he was alone with this girl.

"Go where?" he heard Dory implore.

Ron gave her a look, and just muttered, "Come on." And they were off.

It seemed that the personality Dory had taken on today was one of a chatterbox, which admittedly was better than the whore, bitch, or crazy slapping I-forgot-I-slept-with-you personalities she had before shown. It was somewhat wearing to listen to her speak non-stop. _Endure it_, Ron told himself for about the fiftieth time. _You both needed to talk, and here she is offering it up._ Of course, the topics she had chosen weren't of any use to him.

"I've been to Australia before," she was saying, a new topic being brought up out of nowhere. "It's a nice place."

"Really, I've never been," Ron said to not sound rude. "Did you go to the beaches there?"

"It was actually while I was a fish. I was helping out a clown fish find his clown fish son. We went on an adventure together. There were some sharks, sea turtles, I think a jelly fish or two as well." Dory grinned at the memory.

_How does one even respond to that…_ "Did you, er, find the son?" Ron asked carefully. This was sounding more like one of Luna's stories, and he vaguely wondered if she had somehow inspired it. This story obviously couldn't be true.

"Oh yes, we did! After being almost eaten by a seagull in a dentist's office." Ron only nodded, not wanting to pursue the story anymore.

A swell of voices rose from the background, and as the two rounded the corner, the main street of Hogsmeade came into view. It was filled with students and adults alike, taking as much advantage of the lull in the rain as they could. Ron had always enjoyed trips to Hogsmeade. It presented a chance to stretch the legs, get out of the school atmosphere every once in awhile, an opportunity that Ron had been sure to take advantage of every single time it was presented.

A familiar building came into view, the sign outside of it engraved with the insignia of three broomsticks, indicated the pub that was called just that. "Wanna step into the Three Broomsticks, then?" Ron said without waiting for an answer, pulling Dory into the building behind him. Experience had taught him not to go to empty places if he didn't want to be overheard. They found themselves a small table that was out of the way and quickly ordered them both butterbeers.

"So, is this a date?" Dory asked. The question caught Ron off guard, and he jerked in surprise.

"Dory, do you know why we're even here?" Ron asked slowly, trying to deduce exactly how much she currently knew.

"Well, from that tone, I'd say this isn't a date then." She shrugged, then happily accepted the mug of butterbeer that was offered to her. "Would explain the bag though. Couldn't figure out why you'd bring a school bag on a date." Dory eyed the bag that Ron had placed gingerly on the floor beside his seat when they took their table. Ron had felt foolish bringing it along with him, but he had to agree with Hermione's thinking: how else was he to get the Forget-Me-Not on this little trip without her seeing it and resetting? "But then again, you also got is this shady corner for us to sit at, along with the fact that I shagged you, so you see why I thought it was a date."

"You remember that we, er…" Ron's head snapped up in question. This would be so much easier if she did.

"Oh, wow," she said with wonder. "It seems that I do!" She had a pleased smile on her face. "That rarely happens, me remembering. But if I remembered, then that must mean…" Dory looked up at Ron, her blue eyes gazing wonderingly at him. "You're special. And we're here because I want to find out why you're so special?"

Ron was surprised by the accuracy in her guess. "Well, yeah, I s'pose so. I think you worded it as to get to know each other. But in the end was to see if you could figure out why I was so special enough for you to actually remember things." Ron shrugged and took a sip from his mug.

Dory nodded and looked down into her frothy cup. "There was only one other guy that this ever happened to before," she started, her face scrunched up as she worked on remembering. "We did a lot of stuff together, but we were only in each other's company for a short time. But whatever it was that we did, it was a lot. His name was…" She began to drum her fingers on the wooden table, her eyes closing even tighter as she worked through her cloudy mind. "Marlin," she said finally. "His name was Marlin."

"You sure that wasn't the fish in the ocean," Ron asked sarcastically.

Dory gave a small smile. "Nah. I remember his home address. It was forty-two…. Forty-two something." She shook her head, the effort of remembering such small details were working her over. "Anyways. I have no idea what about him it was, but I know that there was something that helped me remember things when I was with him. And now, I'm with you, and when I see you, I remember things. You're the only person in our year that isn't Hannah whom I've recognized more often right off the bat. It's astounding. Orange!"

Ron looked up in confusion at her outburst. "Sorry?"

"There's something about the color orange that sticks out to me." Eyeing above Ron's face, she cocked her head. "Maybe he had orange hair as well."

"It's not orange, it's red," Ron retorted defensively. He brought a hand up to it and ran a his fingers through it.

"Say what you want. Maybe his hair was orange. Or maybe he had an orange shirt. Favorite color, maybe? What does it matter, I haven't seen him in ages, I think."

A look of sadness fell over Dory's face. Ron sat there awkwardly, not knowing what to say to her to comfort her. How frustrating it must be not to know anything about your past, or even anything about yourself. His mouth was sucking on the straw from his butterbeer began to make loud slurping noises, signaling the lack of liquid in the mug. "Dory, you'd really love to remember things, wouldn't you?" Ron inquired quietly.

She looked up, strands of her blonde hair caught on her nose and streaming across her face. "Oh I'd love to, more than anything," she said in a whisper back. Ron nodded with a sigh. If only he could help her.

A sudden loud rumble rattled the windows. Ron looked through them and saw that the sky somehow managed to look even darker. "Want to head back?" he asked Dory. "Don't want to get caught in the rain." Dory agreed.

A quick ten minute walk later along with an animated discussion on how Dory didn't eat fish because they were "friends, not food!" found them at the entrance to the castle. Before they could open the door, Hannah Abbott appeared out of it. "Hey there, Dory!" She said brightly. "Let's get you inside!" Dory, who seemed to have forgotten Ron's existence, went inside cheerily. Hannah looked to Ron quizzically. "How'd it go."

"I don't really know," Ron confessed. "She talked about some boy and we only had one drink before the rain started to come. I can't tell if she got what she was looking for." Hannah only nodded.

"Well, it was worth a try. See you around, Ron."

Ron was at the top of the seventh floor stairs when loud footsteps came from behind him. He turned and looked, gasping at what he saw.

"Where've you -?" Ron exclaimed as he took a good look at his friend coming up the stairs towards him. "Why are you soaking -? Is that _blood_?" Ron took in Harry's sudden appearance in shock, the other boy's wet and red stained clothing attracting attention from everyone around.

"I need your book," Harry asked in heavy breaths. "Your Potion's Book. Quick… give it to me…"

"But what about the Half-Blood-" Ron began, his hands quickly going into his bag.

"I'll explain later!" Ron grabbed the book from out of his bag, taking care not to let the plant tip over inside of it. Passing it over, Harry sprinted off without a backwards glance. Ron could make no sense of what just happened, but if it involved Harry and blood, there was no doubt that it could not be good.

Ron couldn't follow his friend, for Harry had run off quickly and knew more shortcuts than Ron did. It was very easy that Harry was already five floors below them and it had only been thirty seconds. Trying not to worry too much, Ron went on to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Finding his usual corner table, Ron pulled out the flower and placed it on the table. Maybe looking at it will make him forget the whole ordeal and he could go on without ever having to deal with Dory again. True, it was unwise to go looking for girls so soon after dating Lavender, but Ron couldn't help but feel somewhat hurt that the first girl he'd come across was too crazy to even remember her own name half the time.

"Oh cool, a Forget-Me-Not!" Ron blinked out of his self-pity to see Neville staring in awe at the blue flower. "It's so interesting how something so normal could be so powerful." Ron supposed that Neville was just talking about it triggering forgetfulness, which he had already heard from Dory and Sprout.

"I was having tea with Professor Sprout today as I normally do every Saturday," Neville continued. "She always tells me more things about the plants we're learning about in class, more than she does in the lecture." Ron gave a hum to give the appearance that he was paying attention. "Like how if you play adolescent Mandrakes loud music they're less likely to try to escape their pots." Mandrakes, wasn't that a second year lesson? "The cool thing with Forget-Me-Not's is that in people who react strongly to them, there can be a potion made that could completely alter their memory. Like if someone got on the wrong side of an oblivation charm, it could bring back what they've forgotten."

Bad side of an oblivation charm? The phrase rang a bell. Ron sat up and stared at the flower. Potion to fix memory problems, is it possible? Dory did react to Forget-Me-Nots, she knew it herself. They could make the potion, and give it to her, and then she'd remember. A slow grin creeped up on Ron's face.

"You remember Professor Lockhart, right?" Neville was saying. "Apparently he got hit with one and that's why he left. But they tried the flower with him but since he didn't react to just the flower, the potion had no effect. Funny how that works. I suppose that I won't have any change in memory with the potion since this flower does nothing already for me, but it would still be interesting to make the potion." Neville smiled and Ron gave him a vacant smile back.

"Thanks for the talk, Neville," Ron said dreamily. He picked up the plant and hopped out of the chair. Leaving Neville at the table, Ron began to head to the portrait hole. Now to find Hermione or Harry. Or both, actually. Between the two of them, they should be able to make the potion perfectly.

He was about to walk out when it slid open, revealing a bushy haired friend. "Oh hullo, Hermione, I was just looking for y-"

"Ron, have you heard what happened to Harry? I only just heard in the hall…"

"What? Oh, I saw him earlier," The image of Harry with blood all over him resurfaced in Ron's mind. "Wait, what happened?"

Before Hermione could say another word, though, the portrait hole entrance opened again, revealing a still blood stained and ghostly pale Harry.

"So you've lost the Prince's book?" Ron asked quietly. Across from him on his own bed sat Harry, distraught as ever.

"Yeah," he muttered after a few moments. Ron couldn't help but feel somewhat annoyed; he was depending on the Prince's notes to guide him through making the potion with the plant that now stood on the bed side table, next to Ron's own copy of the Potions book. But Harry's matter was much more pressing, which Ron understood. He didn't mention his own excursion to Hogsmeade or the potion that could help them help Dory.

"Look, mate, don't sweat it. Term's nearly up. A few detentions with Snape and it'll be over. Besides Hermione can help with the potions stuff." Ron knew his babbling was just to try and get Harry's mind off of what he did, and he knew he was failing at it. Harry was nice enough not to tell him off though.

"Just remind me to let Dean know he'll be Chaser now, and we'll put Ginny as Seeker." With that, Harry pulled the curtains on his four-poster close.

Ron sat there stunned. He had completely forgotten about the final Quidditch game that would take place in exactly a week. They needed a steep number of points over Ravenclaw for them to win, and a large number of that depended on Ron's keeping ability, which was nothing without Harry's pep talks.

Ron drew his own curtains and laid down, trying not to let the full weight of what everything that was going on in his life to crush him.


End file.
